The role of robotic toys in shaping play and joint engagement in autistic children: Implications for future design

Abstract Autistic children are thought to develop social attention skills differently from non-autistic children. Previous work has shown that technology, and specifically tangible toys, could have the potential to support social attention in autistic children. A key challenge is knowing how to design and use interactive and intelligent technologies to support interaction in autistic children, given the heterogeneity in levels of social motivation, social development, and interest in digital technologies. To address this challenge, we examined in detail the interaction between digital features and autistic children’s joint engagement in a real-world setting, exploring the impact of tangible constraints in fostering social interaction. The current study observed autistic children (aged between 12 and 15 years) playing with a digital robotic toy and a non-digital counterpart, and measured social attention and engagement during free play. The results showed that increased and higher levels of joint attention when children had to share a toy between them, on both digital and non-digital interfaces. We found that autistic children individually vary in their propensity to engage in social interactions, as well as their responses to digital features. This work contributes to a growing area of evidence that tangible and smart technologies can create social opportunities for autistic children.